By Molly Parker
SCBIZ Daily Staff

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Maersk Line’s customer service center in Mount Pleasant will shut its doors at the end of the month, officially transferring the call center operation to a new facility the company opened in Charlotte, N.C.

“We’re ratcheting down quickly, and we have been since February,” said Steve Davis, administration manager for the Charleston resource center.

Maersk Line, the world’s largest ocean carrier and one of the Port of Charleston’s largest customers, announced in February that it would be closing the local facility, which employed roughly 140 workers.

The company’s Charleston employees were offered jobs in Charlotte, and about 40 workers transferred to North Carolina, Davis said.

“For the rest of us, we just love Charleston too much to leave,” Davis said.

The call center is designed to help Maersk customers on the East Coast facilitate their shipping needs. In its February announcement, the company said it was consolidating its operations to improve efficiency. The company also closed a similar call center in Portsmouth, Va.

The call center building at 546 Long Point Road is on the market, at an asking price of $4.98 million. 

Other A.P. Moller-Maersk maritime ventures in the Charleston region are not affected by the call center’s closure, including Maersk Distribution, Bridge Terminal Transport and APM Terminals.